Writer’s Quote Wednesday – Elmore Leonard

Welcome! This is an open invitation to join in on my blogging event called, Writer’s Quote Wednesday. This is your chance to highlight your favorite author’s quotes that give inspiration to you as a writer. Do you feel like your writing is getting stale? Are you looking for inspiration to keep writing? Then you have come to right spot!

All you have to do is find your favorite quote. Find something that truly speaks to you. This does not have to pertain just to writing. It can be any kind of quote as long as it made an impact on you. Then, write a post and include your quote.

There are no rules to follow. Either create your own sayings (because after all, we are all writer’s here) or use a quote from a famous author that you find gives you inspiration. Just make sure that credit is given for other’s work. You can use Fotoflexer or Picmonkey, or any other program that you wish to make your own images. Click the links to go to the programs.

Be ready to take part with videos and words, photos, and any other media you care to share. I would love to hear some quotes spoken or even sung! Please make sure and give credit to the author of the quote. If it is an image quote you found on the internet, please say where you found it.

Each Wednesday, I will post the prompt and all you have to do is take part! You have from that Wednesday until the following Monday night to post your quotes. That will give me time to do a weekly wrap up and the new quote for the following week. On Tuesday, I will post a Weekly Recap of the past week’s quotes with links back to your blogs.

I will share your images on social media for added exposure. Copy the badge above and include it on your own post.

Please be aware that I do NOT receive any emails from WordPress any longer. I am using the reader exclusively. Please make sure that your pingback works on my Wednesday post so that I can find you. ❤

Tag your post on your own blog as “Writer’s Quote Wednesday,” so we can find the posts in the reader. On your own blog post do a ping-back to THIS post and make sure to “like” or “comment” on everyone else’s post. A ping-back is when you embed (or copy) the HTTP:// address of my weekly prompt into your own blog post.

Make sure to check my weekly prompt (this post) to see if your entry is there. You can copy the HTTP:// address of your blog post and include it in the comments section of my original weekly prompt if that works better for you.

Please help SILVER banish writer’s block for good!

I searched for a quote that really got through to the heart of my writing angst this week. I am just too stressed to write and work on my book right now. A little meditation is in order, I think! However, I was blown away with this quote:

How many times have you picked up a book and thought to yourself while reading, “What was this author thinking? Why did they write it like this?”

I have experienced this quite a bit lately. It’s like there is something unseen, but you can hear a certain pitch within the words themselves. I like to call it the author’s rhythm. We all have one and each is different. Experienced authors have developed a particular style which they use in most of their writing. Their rhythm comes through and leads you on the trail of their story.

I particularly liked this quote from Elmore Leonard because it allows an author literary freedom. Instead of conforming to the required standards of English usage, Leonard advocates the use of words that lend rhythm to your writing. This also creates interest in your storytelling.

Like a song, our writing tells a story. If something sounds better using a particular word or phrase, I think, as authors we should use those words and any combination that gives a particular sound. Think Dr. Seuss here!

Elmore John Leonard, Jr. (October 11, 1925 – August 20, 2013) was an American novelist, short story writer, and screenwriter. His earliest novels, published in the 1950s, were Westerns, but Leonard went on to specialize in crime fiction and suspense thrillers, many of which have been adapted into motion pictures.

68 thoughts on “Writer’s Quote Wednesday – Elmore Leonard”

Strongs with your writer’s block – I love that quote by Elmore Leonard, it has something of Mark Twain saying, “I never let school get in the way of my education”. (Ok that was off the cuff, I’m certain I got the wording wrong but that is the gist anyway.)

Me, I don’t have writer’s block, I have a serious case of procrastination. My stories are calling me, my characters are clamouring in my ears, my main character Federi lurks in the background poking my shoulder every now and then, or winking at me, trying to nudge me into writing, and here I am stubbornly blogging, facebooking, internetting, emailing, and mostly stressing.

My current favourite quote (and song) is Elsa from Frozen: “Let it go, let it go”….

Set your stories free. Let’s do this together: You push through your writer’s block and I push through my writing procrastination, and tonight we check back and see what each has managed. Ok? 😉

Lyz, I really do love your Mark Twain quote, “I never let school get in the way of my education.” Perfect! That is what I was after. Ironically, my writer’s block seemed to disappear after I wrote that post. My angst is more about moving than writing. I want to get on with it. Being stuck in limbo is hard to deal with and to top it off, you have no control over the situation. Oh well. I did some things today to make my time go quicker, so I feel better. I am going to work on my book today. It is time. I am right there with you and will let you know this afternoon how I did. Thanks for the encouragement and friendship. ❤ ❤ ❤

I like this quote a lot. It almost gives me official sanction to write the way that I do.

One of the greatest compliments that I have been paid, more than once, by readers of my debut novel is when they tell me that their reading experience was almost like me sitting in a room with them telling them the story. That is particularly pertinent to the setting of the book: a remote Botswana village where stories have been passed down from generation to generation in exactly that way.

By the way, I hope that my pingback and tag worked this week. Please let me know.

Lance, I could not agree with you more. I find myself pulling back now when I read a book and thinking about the word-play. There has to be a certain latitude that an author has to write the way it sounds correct to them. As the reader, you have to take pause and think about how it sounds. Good things to remember when we review books. 😀 Your pingback worked. I am so sorry for all the confusion. WP has not helped with all the craziness working on their program. ❤ 😀

Thank you, Meredith. I know you love music and this is right up your alley. The best part was after writing the post, my block of emotion seemed to lift and I felt like I could write again. Thanks for enjoying. ❤

I’ve always liked this quote, and have used it for inspiration when I face dilemmas about artistic decisions. Sometimes there are just so many rules and advice about what not to do. I’m not saying there’s isn’t a need to share our experiences and learn from each other (there’s real value in that), but when people tell you how to write a story, it can affect the voice and rhythm and I think people forget that. Thanks for sharing ❤

Your Elmore Leonard quote made me think of e.e. cummings who maybe I will use next week. This week’s contribution is from Tom Clancy. In the spirit of making our own rules, I only participate if I can post on a Wednesday (my own issue) but I sometimes stretch my days by three hours to account for West Coast time. So since it is still Wednesday in California here is my contribution for the week.

Hi Colleen, this quote felt like a one-size-fits-all, as it serves for a wide range of situations. it resonated with me in several ways.
It tells me to not worry when writing in English as a non-native speaker. It tells me that society has created many standards, but I’d better find and follow my own prose and rhymes to find happiness. It tells me that authenticity and spontaneity, in whatever we do, does not come from an overly rational mindset.
I love your Wednesdays posts. So much wisdom and learning. Thank you!
❤

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Colleen Chesebro

Colleen M. Chesebro is a writer of cross-genre fiction, poetry, and creative nonfiction. Her debut novel, a YA fantasy series called, “The Heart Stone Chronicles - The Swamp Fairy,” was published January 2017.
The book reveals the story of Abby Forrester, a 14-year-old orphaned girl who is entrusted with saving a community of fairy nymphs from certain ecological destruction. Along the way, Abby learns about friendship, love, and what it means to actually belong to a family.
Colleen’s writing explores ecological situations in the multicultural world of today. She combines real-life historical events into her writing to create experiences that will continue in the hearts and heads of her readers.
A veteran of the United States Air Force, Colleen is also a retired bookkeeper. She has an Associates Degree in Business Administration, and another Associates Degree in the Arts, which she uses to combine her love of writing with her passion for all things creative.
When she is not writing, Colleen enjoys spending time with her husband, dogs, children, and grandchildren. When time permits, she also loves gardening, cooking, and crocheting old fashioned doilies into works of artistry.
She lives in the United States with her husband and her two Pomeranians, Sugar, and Spice. You can learn more about Colleen and her writing on her website colleenchesebro.com.
View all posts by Colleen Chesebro

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She was raised as a Mormon, and he is a convict serving 43 years in prison. This blog offers a glimpse into two vastly different worlds that somehow came crashing together. Join them on their journey through prison life & married life.